The cultivated apple tree was first introduced into this country by the earliest settlers, and is thought to do as well or better here than anywhere else. Probably some of the varieties which are now cultivated were first introduced into Britain by the Romans. Pliny, adopting the distinction of Theophrastus, says, “Of trees there are some which are altogether wild (sylvestres), some more civilized (urbaniores).” Theophrastus includes the apple among the last; and, indeed, it is in this sense the most civilized of all trees. It is as harmless as a dove, as beautiful as a rose, and as valuable as flocks and herds. It has been longer cultivated than any other, and so is more humanized; and who knows but, like the dog, it will at length be no longer traceable to its wild original? It migrates with man, like the dog and horse and cow: first, perchance, from Greece to Italy, thence to England, thence to America; and our Western emigrant is still marching steadily toward the setting sun with the seeds of the apple in his pocket, or perhaps a few young trees strapped to his load.... For when man migrates, he carries with him not only his birds, quadrupeds, insects, vegetables, and his very sward, but his orchard also.
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), U.S. philosopher, author, naturalist. “Wild Apples” (1862), in The Writings of Henry David Thoreau, vol. 5, pp. 292-293, Houghton Mifflin (1906). Thoreau here draws on the contemporary belief in a historical translatio imperii (”transfer of empire”) and translatio studii (”transfer of the arts”) from the Old World to the New.
Its that season here in the Tburg. I have a wonderful present every week with Jackie Merwin's Black Diamond Incredapple program. We subscribe and then pick up a bag filled with all sorts of heirloom apples with other treats like plums or basil or whatever Jackie has and wants to downsize. We had some delicious crabapples this week along with an apple called Ginger Gold (a good name for a golden lab or retriever)--that were sensational. Our farmstand friend claims he is at the end of cantaloupes and seedless watermelons...and is fearful the demand to put out pumpkins and corn stalks are in the near offing. Yipes!
Here is Shadow doodle-dog with a semi rotting osage orange clenched between her teeth. She is wagging away and leaning on me as a way to get me to get the idea she is anxious to chase this mooshy, lime green fruit. Yuck!